THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The chances of American servicemen being charged and sent to face justice at the International Criminal Court are remote, even if the chief prosecutor opens an investigation into alleged crimes in Afghanistan, experts said Tuesday.
Stephen Rapp, a former ambassador at large for war crimes issues in the Obama administration told The Associated Press he considers it “highly, highly unlikely” an American will be prosecuted at the world’s first international court with global reach, based in The Hague, Netherlands.
Rapp’s comments came a day after the ICC’s chief prosecutor said in a report that U.S. forces in Afghanistan may have committed the war crime of torture when interrogating detainees, opening the possibility of Americans being prosecuted even though their country is not a member of the court.
“Members of US armed forces appear to have subjected at least 61 detained persons to torture, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity on the territory of Afghanistan between 1 May 2003 and 31 December 2014,” according to the report issued late Monday by Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s office.
Bensouda did not comment on the ICC report Tuesday.
